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Hi, 👋 I’m Clay,

writer of the Coach’s Notes. I’m a long time learning and development specialist: leadership, self-development, self-management, and emotional intelligence are my passions. Best self; Best team is how I serve.

I host the Wisdom Experience Radio Show and Podcast and share my stream of consciousness thoughts on the soulcruzer diaries.

Most recently at:

The Mitre Hampton Court, East Molesey, United Kingdom

I WRITE WEEKLY AT:

THE WISDOM EXPERIENCE

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Podcast
Clay

What if your life was infinitely on repeat, would you be happy to experience it over and over again, the good and the bad? 

Picture the universe and all its events repeating themselves forever in an endless loop; every thought, every emotion has occurred, is occurring, and will occur infinitely. This is what Nietzsche called Eternal Recurrence. He used this idea to test the mettle of human values. If all of your actions, thoughts, and emotions were to recur infinitely, would you be content to relive your life exactly as it is – the good and the bad?

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Podcast
Clay

WEX 22: Navigating Isolation and Building Mental Wealth with Mike Pagan

Show Notes: Episode #22: Navigating Isolation and Building Mental Wealth with Mike Pagan In this episode, host Clay Lowe sits down with executive coach, motivational speaker, and endurance athlete Mike Pagan. Mike shares his insights on productivity, mental wealth, and sports, drawing on his 20 years of coaching experience. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to check out Mike’s book, Mental Wealth, and visit our website for more insightful conversations and resources on navigating the challenges of isolation and building mental wealth. Note: This is a summary of the content discussed in the podcast episode. [For the full experience and details, please

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Blog
Clay

a transformative affair

I started blogging on February 8, 2004 at 2:32 PM. I’ve been hooked on it ever since. But then monetisation happened, social media happened, and the blogosphere changed forever. And that’s fine. What’s not fine is that people continue to ignore the fact that they don’t own their social media accounts. And if you’ve been paying attention to what has been happening over at Twitter / X since the new boss took over, you should be concerned. I know I preach a lot about why you should start your own blog or restart your old one, and it’s because of

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Blog
Clay

embrace your questions

Self-questioning. It’s a simple phrase, yet profoundly powerful. I’ve been thinking a lot about the value of looking inward through self-questioning. It’s too easy to accept your thoughts and feelings at face value instead of digging deeper to see what you might find beyond the surface conversations we have with ourselves. Not going deeper is a dangerous path. How can you ever know your true beliefs and motivations if you don’t? Embrace your questions; don’t avoid them. Ask yourself: Why did I get so angry in that moment? Why did I go along with something I knew was wrong? Questioning

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Blog
Clay

Friday, 17 August 2023

My friends are divided. Some of them are superfans of ChatGTP and use it for everything, especially helping them with their writing. Others can’t stand it and go out of their way to make sure that people know that their writing is 100% human-crafted. As a fan of folks like William Burroughs and Kathy Archer, I think ChatGPT and other language models are fantastic. For me, they validate Burroughs’ insistence that language is a virus. And that we can free ourselves from the bonds words create by letting go of the imposed structure of language. While in the shower this

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Blog
Clay

The Art of Paying Attention: What Sappho’s Poetry Teaches Us

Stopping to smell the roses. Living in the moment. Being present. These familiar maxims speak to something many of us struggle with: the art of paying attention. In our distraction-filled world, concentrating intently on the present is increasingly rare. Yet the ancient Greek poet Sappho provides a model for mindful awareness and engagement with the fullness of our experiences. Through vivid images and emotional depth, her poetry reminds us to wake up to the present and notice life’s meaningful details. Some say a host of horses, some say an army of infantry, and some say an army of ships is

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Blog
Clay

a pathway back to our natural state

I stumble out my front door just in time to see the sun begin to peak its head above the horizon. I take a deep breath of cool, crisp air. After 23 years, I still haven’t gotten used to what passes as summer weather here in the UK. I let that thought subside. Better to focus on the walk ahead, a walk that has become an integral part of my daily routine. It’s a time to clear my head, reflect, and reconnect with nature. My passing through the gate disturbs the cows. They look up to see who has disrupted

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Blog
Clay

Turn down the noise

So here’s the thing: life is super loud right now. There are all kinds of people shouting about what you should do, what you should want, and who you should be. It’s crazy! It’s like being at a drone metal concert where the music is just noise.1 But in and amongst this noise is a soft, quiet voice trying to break through, and if you listen very hard, you’ll recognise that voice as your intuition. Your intuition can be hard to hear over all the noise. It’s subtle, like a whisper you can barely make out. But it’s so important.

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Podcast
Clay

How mischief can brighten your day

I’ve been meaning to do this for a while now: reboot the Wisdom Experience Podcast, which I used to host with Naomi Martell-Bundock. The project came to a natural end after a couple of seasons. I really loved the concept of exploring everyday wisdom, so I’ve been looking for an opportunity to reboot this podcast. Stumbling back into Socrates, Rousseau, Thoreau, and William James has reminded me that philosophy belongs with the people, not in the clouds or dusty lecture halls. So with that in mind, I decided to reboot the Wisdom Experience podcast as a solo project. I’ve even refreshed

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black stackable stone decor at the body of water
Blog
Clay

The practice of intentional living

Last week, I introduced the concept of “misliving,” a term used to describe a life lived without direction or intention. I emphasised the importance of living intentionally to avoid finding ourselves in this position. To recap, intentional living is a lifestyle where you consciously choose actions that reflect your personal beliefs, values, and goals. It’s about actively shaping your life instead of passively letting life happen to you. It involves making mindful decisions, adjusting as necessary, and constantly ensuring your actions align with your values. Motivated by our discussion on intentional living, I’ve crafted a 20-question self-assessment questionnaire. This tool

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Newsletter
Clay

The Barefoot Philosopher

In which I explore my fundamental approach to philosophy and coaching. Issue #115 of The Coach’s Notes newsletter. Philosophy is fundamentally about life. But more specifically, it is about your life. Root around on the Internet a little bit, and you’ll find a book definition similar to this: philosophy is the study of knowledge, truth, and the nature of ultimate reality. But philosophy doesn’t stop at these abstract concepts. For a barefoot philosopher like me, the idea is to probe deeper into the very essence of existence, seeking answers to what life is and how to optimise it. Philosophy isn’t

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Video
Clay

Philosophy matters

You never know when you’re going turn up at your friend’s house for a beer and end up making a video. 

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Podcast
Clay

Are you “Misliving?”

I read this morning from a philosopher that we are “misliving.” Basically he was suggesting that in our current lifestyle, we often misread, misinterpret, or misconstrue various aspects of our lives, which keeps us from living a truly meaningful life.

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AI
Clay

First Look at the New AI-Powered Journal, Rosebud

Rosebud is an introspective daily journal that provides personalized feedback and guidance as you write. It’s like having a conversation with a mentor who really gets you and keeps your best interest in mind. Rosebud In this video, I do impromptu walkthrough of the Rosebud journal. My first impression of the app is that it has a lot of potential. What needs a closer look is the privacy settings in place and how easy is it to extract your journal entries should you decide you don’t want to use the app anymore. The price is reasonable coming at $4.99 a

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